(And welcome to my next chapter. Hope you're ready to see some fights. Enjoy.)
After Squad Seven was brought to a room by Iruka, they spent the afternoon relaxing to get their strength back.
Naruto who was lying on a bed sat up, "I think I'm gonna go take a look around."
"Try not to go too far, Naruto." Sasuke warned him.
"Sasuke's right," Sakura agreed, "We may be in the tower, but you never know who may try to start something."
Naruto nodded, "I'll keep that in mind. Be back soon." he left the room.
So Naruto explored the tower seeing it had other waiting rooms, a cafeteria and a training hall which he had his hunches would be used for when they would eventually have to fight their opponents in. Suddenly he felt an chilling sense around him, and looked back seeing the team from Suna walking down another hall. Gaara was walking ahead while Kankuro and Temari followed behind trying to keep their distance.
Naruto squinted his eyes in their direction and saw Gaara had no bruises or scratches on him just as Kabuto's card indicated, 'Whoa. Kabuto's card wasn't kidding. Now I know I have to keep an eye on him.'
Naruto continued on through the hall before hearing a voice, "We were the ones who got here first!"
"You can't prove that!"
"Yeah. We were here before you!"
Naruto curiously decided to investigate. He arrived at the training hall seeing three teams were arguing, or rather one member from each team had been arguing while their teammates were standing back thinking it was a waste of time. The three teams were from either Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa. Naruto recognized them as the teams he was observing before part two of the Chunin Exams began.
The red haired girl from Kumo was arguing on behalf of her team, which had the dark skinned boy who looked nervous at his female teammates argument with the others, and the blonde buxom one looked embarrassed at what was going on.
The girl member from the Iwa team was arguing on behalf of her team, and the Kiri swordsman's one teammate was arguing on behalf of them.
Naruto thought, 'I should really stay out of this since it doesn't concern me. But if they don't cease this they're only going to make fools of themselves. Plus their teammates don't even seem to give a rats ass about who got here before the other.'
So Naruto approached and let out a loud whistle which caught the teams attention, "Hey! Hey! What's all racket here?"
The Iwa Kunoichi frowned, "Butt out, boy. This doesn't concern you."
"I'm just a curious shinobi. And your little squabble caught my attention. Now is there anyone here who can tell me what all the fuss is about calmly?" he inquired.
The white haired boy of team Kumo spoke, "Well, all three of our teams just arrived, and my teammate here said we were the first out of all our groups to arrive here. But then that turned into this argument, as you can see."
The redhead frowned, "Omoi, why'd you tell him?"
"I was just trying to be nice, Karui." Omoi said nervously.
"There's no place for niceties here!" Karui snapped.
The buxom blonde spoke up, "Karui, keep a cool head before you pop a blood vessel."
Karui ceased her dramatics and grumbled, "Yes, Samui."
The boy with the sword spoke up, "Yeah. Can't we all just agree that we arrived here simultaneously?" he looked around feeling nervous.
One of the Iwa shinobi spoke, "I agree. Who cares who made it here first? It's not like it'll matter once the third part of the exams starts. Wouldn't you agree, Kurotsuchi?" he asked the female member of his team.
Kurotsuchi scowled before sighing, "Fine. Whatever."
Naruto smiled, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"
The group just shrugged. As the swordsman boy spoke, "So who're you?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. And you all are?"
The girl Samui spoke up, "My name's Samui, and these are my teammates Omoi and Karui."
Naruto turned to the Kiri team, as the swordsman spoke, "I'm Choujuro, and this is Watari and Rinzu."
The blonde then looked at the Earth team, as the girl spoke, "My name's Kurotsuchi. These guys are Mitsuchi and Kamura."
Naruto bowed his head, "A pleasure. Well, I best be going. I look forward to seeing you all as the competition continues." he took his leave.
As they watched him walk on, Omoi spoke to his team, "He's quite down to earth. Reminds me of Bee-sensei."
Karui scoffed, "Bee-sensei's cooler than he is."
"Perhaps, but he seems to be cool in his own way." Samui admitted.
Naruto had walked until he went outside the tower and sat on the roof of it looking out into the forest, "Still many other teams are out there fighting for their lives against the dangers of the forest and each other."
He shut his eyes and suddenly found himself in his mind surrounded by Kurama and Raava, "Kurama? Raava? What's going on?"
"Well, after what you just went through..." Kurama began.
"We felt like you could use some old friends to talk too." Raava added.
"Well, I have had a lot on my mind. So I could stand some time with you guys." Naruto admitted.
"Good. Because there is stuff you need to know. Particularly about Gaara." Kurama said.
"What do you mean? What do you know about him?"
Raava answered, "Gaara is just like you, Naruto. Deep down inside."
Naruto processed it, and realized, "Gaara's a Jinchuriki too?"
"That's right," Kurama confirmed, "Inside him dwells my brother Shukaku the Ichibi."
"I'm going out on a limb and guess that Shukaku and Gaara aren't exactly buds like we are." Naruto guessed.
"Exactly. Many years after me and my fellow tailed beasts were separated, Shukaku was eventually found and captured by the First Kazekage of Suna. He was then imbued within the body of a priest who was kept under lock down for fear of Shukaku going crazy. After the priest had died Shukaku was sealed inside a tea kettle until they could find a new suitable host for him. Naturally over the years like myself, Shukaku would be imbued with other humans from Suna, a lot of them being unsuccessful. But Gaara he seems to be the only one capable of using Shukaku's powers, but at the cost of his sanity."
"Cost of his sanity?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"Having Shukaku sealed inside has drawbacks to the human containing him. Those bags under his eyes isn't the cause of insomnia. Should the host of Shukaku sleep then he will eat away at their mentality until they are no more. But as long as Gaara remains awake, Shukaku's power is kept in check."
"Still to not being able to sleep... It's just insane." Naruto said in disbelief.
"Yes. If you were deprived of sleep for as long as Gaara you'd have gone mad." Kurama joked.
Naruto ignored his joke and spoke, "So you think there's a chance I may be fighting him in the Chunin Exams?"
"There's a strong chance." Raava admitted.
"Think I could beat him?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"Personally, I don't think so," Kurama answered bluntly. Naruto frowned, until the fox continued, "But you've surprised us both time and time again. So anything's possible."
"Well, thanks. Plus Gaara's not my only worry. Orochimaru is out there."
"Yes. He will eventually continue to seek out your friend Sasuke."
"That's what I'm afraid of. Not even my bending alone could match him. My move back in the forest was luck. And luck won't save me or my comrades forever."
"Do not panic, Naruto," Raava calmed him, "Remember you don't have to face these problems alone. Remember you have your team, and myself and Kurama."
Naruto smiled, "Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Raava. And thanks, Kurama."
"Don't mention it." Kurama replied.
"Well, I gotta get back. It was nice talking to you two." Naruto said, as he woke up from his trance.
Naruto was about to go back inside, until he saw Sakura climb onto the roof at his level, "There you are, Naruto."
"Oh, hi, Sakura. I was just about to get back inside."
"Listen, Naruto, I was wondering if you'd help me with something." Sakura began.
"What's that?"
Sakura was looking a bit flustered, "Well, since I don't know how this whole Earthbending thing works. You think you can teach me how to do it?"
"You want me to teach you?" Naruto asked feeling flabbergasted.
"Who else can do it but you?"
"Point." Naruto admitted.
"Plus I think this Earthbending is my strength that I've been searching for. It may be just what I need to continue on when we'll be forced to fight other opponents."
"Keep in mind, Sakura. We only have two days before the deadline of the second stage. That's not a lot of time to make you an Earthbending master." Naruto warned her.
"I don't need to be a master. I just have to be decent at it. Can you please teach me, Naruto?" she pleaded.
Naruto looked at Sakura seeing how serious she wanted it. He smiled, and answered, "It would be my pleasure."
Sakura's eyes brightened and her smile increased, "Thank you, Naruto!" she embraced him.
Naruto was taken aback by her hug, and continued, "But we'll have to train during the nighttime. We don't want everyone to see what you can do before the next part of the Chunin Exams."
"I understand." Sakura agreed.
"So tonight outside the tower, we begin your training." Naruto instructed.
"I'll be ready." Sakura confirmed.
"You better," Naruto warned her, "Because I'm not holding back."
That night, Naruto and Sakura went outside the tower, and the Avatar began teaching his pupil how to Earthbend. Much like how Naruto started off when he began his Earthbending training, Sakura was also slowly learning. After she learned to concentrate and be one with the earth, Naruto was able to start teaching her how to maneuver some rocks and small boulders.
Sakura was getting into a stance, but Naruto noticed she was off her balance and corrected her stance, "Ok. Now give it a go."
Sakura nodded, and bended an earth boulder from the ground and kicked it sending it crashing against a nearby tree.
"How was that?" she asked.
"Not bad, for a beginner. But when you become a master like many of the previous Avatars or benders like Toph Beifong or Master Bolin, then you'll be a force to be reckoned with."
"I understand."
"Well, it's late. We need to get some sleep." Naruto instructed.
"Right. Thanks again for teaching me, Naruto." Sakura thanked him.
"Any time, Sakura." And with that the two went inside to rest up, for tomorrow night they'd pick up where they left off.
When the remaining days came and went for the Chunin Exam participants, the second stage was concluded, and those who did not make it to the tower were brought back to the village and sent home. During the time, Naruto continued to use the last night to teach Sakura more and more about what he knew about Earthbending, and he felt she was ready to take it to the arena.
The morning came on the new day, and all the gathered teams stood in the training hall. Among Squad seven included the rest of their fellow rookies, Lee's team, The Suna siblings, the Sound shinobi, Kabuto's team, Samui's team, Choujuro's team, and Kurotsuchi's team. The genin stood before Hiruzen, several Chunin Exam proctors, and each teams respectable squad leader.
Hiruzen spoke up, "First of all I want to personally congratulate all of you for making it past the second stage of the Chunin Exams. However, we still have too many competitors for the third and final stage. Which is why we will be having a preliminary match to shorten things up."
Anko continued, "But at this point if you desire to withdraw from the competition then you may. This will not affect your whole team."
Kabuto suddenly raised his hand, "I'm wishing to withdraw."
Naruto looked back at him, "Kabuto? You're quitting now?"
"Sorry, but I just haven't been feeling myself lately. It's not a big deal though. I'm used to it." Kabuto explained sheepishly. Naruto squinted his eyes feeling something just didn't feel right about him of all people dropping out.
"Any other takers?" Anko inquired. Kiri's team Watari also raised his hand and was permitted to leave.
The Hokage spoke up, "Now then, I shall turn things over to your newest proctor." he presented a shinobi who looked pale and coughed a few times.
"Greetings, my name's Hayate Gekkou. For these preliminaries you will be randomly chosen to fight anyone in this room. During your matches you're free to use whatever weapons and techniques you have. There shall be no time limit. And I am allowed to step in and end the match should I see fit. Now then the screen above will decide who will fight who."
They looked up and saw a screen displayed above with everyone's name being mixed up, until the first two names to come up were Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado.
Yoroi of Kabuto's team looked interested, while Sasuke thought, 'Looks like there's no waiting for me.'
Hayate spoke, "Will those who have been selected remain here on the arena? While everyone else go up above where you can watch from a safe distance."
So everyone besides Sasuke and Yoroi went up top to the catwalks where each squad stood beside their respective sensei.
"The first match is between Yoroi Akado and Sasuke Uchiha," Hayate began, "Let the match begin!"
And with that, both shinobi took off fighting. From up above Naruto and Sakura were cheering their comrade on.
"Come on, Sasuke!" Sakura called.
"Take him down!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke was dodging Yoroi who looked like he was trying to grab him. Sasuke was forming hand signs, "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" he launched his fire but saw the fire wasn't as big as it normally was. Yoroi dodged it with no difficulty.
"What's going on?" Sasuke gasped in confusion, but suddenly felt himself getting light headed.
Yoroi chuckled, "Haven't you figured it out yet?"
Sasuke pondered, until it dawned on him, "You've been sucking my chakra."
"Correct. And just a bit more and you won't have any left. This match is mine." Yoroi mocked.
Naruto called, "Don't let him get to you, Sasuke. Find a way around it!"
Sasuke looked up at Naruto, and smirked with boosted confidence, "And I know just what to do." he took it tot he offense using only Taijutsu. After performing Leaf Shadow dance which he copied off Lee via Sharingan, he took it from there.
"Lion's barrage!" he slammed down on Yoroi as he crashed onto the floor.
Hayate checked Yoroi seeing he was down, "The Winner of match one is Sasuke Uchiha!"
Naruto and Sakura cheered for their teammate, as Kakashi eye smiled. Sasuke smiled in victory only to suddenly collapse. Kakashi caught him, and spoke to the medics taking Yoroi away, "I'll see to Sasuke myself." he appeared back on the catwalk.
"Is Sasuke..." Naruto began.
"He'll be fine. He just needs to replenish his chakra. I'll take him to the hospital. Be back in a jiff." he took off with Sasuke.
Both Naruto and Sakura looked worried, but had no time for it, as the next two names were chosen. Everyone saw the names displayed were Chouji and Rinzu.
"That's me." Chouji gasped.
"Go on, Chouji. Show him what you got." Ino cheered him up.
"Ok." Chouji said, feeling a bit nervous.
Shikamaru watched, and spoke to Asuma, "He doesn't look like he's up for it."
"Give him a chance, Shikamaru. He may surprise you." the chain smoker replied.
As Chouji and Rinzu arrived on the field, Hayate spoke, "This match will be between Chouji Akimichi and Rinzu. You may begin!"
Chouji started off by using his expansion jutsu and human boulder move. Rinzu was jumping around avoiding the bowling strikes, and mocked, "Nice try fatty!"
Chouji growled, "I am not fat! I'm chubby!" he attempted to bowl Rinzu over again.
The Kiri shinobi performed a jutsu as water covered his arms turning them into whips. The shinobi observing were surprised as he whipped at the ground putting some breaks in it. With the arena cracked up in certain spots, Chouji's human boulder move was shaken up and couldn't roll straight.
"Now to put an end to your mass form." Rinzu whipped at Chouji's ball form sending it crashing into a wall. Everyone looked and saw Chouji deflated and looking dizzy.
"It it lunch time yet?" he asked with dizzy eyes.
Hayate called the match, "Rinzu is the winner!"
"Oh, Chouji." Ino groaned.
"Hey, I had a feeling it was going to turn out like this." Shikamaru shrugged.
Chouji walked up to the catwalk looking ashamed, "Sorry, guys."
Asuma patted his shoulder, "Hey, you did your best. And that's what matters. How about afterward we go out for barbeque?"
Chouji's eyes lit up, "I'm good with that."
Kakashi had just returned and spoke to his team, "What happened?"
"Well, Chouji lost again Rinzu from Kiri." Sakura explained.
"So it wasn't too much." Naruto added.
"Well, as long as I didn't miss any of your matches." Kakashi said in relief.
The next two names drawn were Kankuro and Misumi. The Suna shinobi and Kabuto's other teammate went to the arena where Hayate began the match.
Everyone watched with excitement, as Misumi was able to soften his body so he could wrap around Kankuro and break his bones. When his neck snapped, everyone cringed, while Gaara and Temari remained unaffected. To everyone's and Misumi's surprise Kankuro was revealed to have been a multiple armed puppet controlled by use of chakra strings that the real Kankuro was using while hiding in the bandage wrapped object he carried on his back.
"Me and Karasu have you now!" Kankuro declared as the puppet squeezed the life out of Misumi, until Hayate declared the Suna shinobi the winner.
Kankuro returned to the catwalk, as Misumi was taken away. The next two names to come up were Shino and Mitsuchi.
Shino noticed his name and started walking for their stairs, "Good luck, Shino." Hinata spoke.
"I'm sure you got this." Kiba added.
Shino said nothing, and just continued until he reached the arena where he met his opponent. Hayate announced to them, "This match will be between Shino Aburame and Mitsuchi. You may begin!"
The match started with Mitsuchi utilizing his earth element and tried striking at Shino with earth based jutsu. Shino for the most part dodged, until he ended up getting nailed by an earth pillar that came up from the floor.
"Ya got him, Mitsuchi!" Kurotsuchi called.
"The match is mine," Mitsuchi said confidently, until he looked closely at Shino, "What?" Shino had dissolved into multiple bugs, "A clone made of insects?"
"That's right." Came Shino's voice, as Mitsuchi felt his opponent was right behind him.
"Don't move, or I'll sick my chakra feeding bugs on you. And they're feeling hungry." Shino warned him.
Mitsuchi seeing if he tried to make hand signs, his chakra would get devoured by the bugs. With much humility he spoke, "I forfeit the match."
Hayate nodded, and announced, "Shino Aburame is the winner!"
"All right!" Kiba called.
"Congratulations, Shino!" Hinata cheered.
Kurenai smiled, "Well, done."
Shino and Mitsuchi returned above, where Squad eight congratulated Shino, while Mitsuchi faced his team with guilt.
The participants watched as the next two names drawn were Sakura and Zaku. Sakura seeing her name and who she was assigned to fight was left speechless. Zaku on the other hand smirked, "This is good."
Kin turned to him, "Zaku, you know what that girl is capable of."
"Of course I do. But I won't let her surprise me like she did before." he answered.
"Zaku, don't get cocky." Dosu warned his teammate, but Zaku took no notice.
Sakura was shaking a bit, until Naruto laid a hand on her shoulder, "Sakura, you're ready for this. I know you are."
"You do." she asked. Naruto nodded giving her confidence. Sakura smiled, "All right then." so she left for the arena.
Kakashi was curious, "Naruto, what was that about?"
"You'll find out, sensei." he smirked.
So Zaku and Sakura met on the arena, as the boy spoke, "Ready to get your ass handed to you?"
Sakura frowned, "Not likely. You know what I can do, remember?"
Zaku answered, "I do, but now that I know what you can do. I can better defend myself."
"We'll see." Sakura smirked.
Hayate announced, "This match will be between Sakura Haruno and Zaku Abumi. Let the match begin!"
As Zaku went in to attack, Sakura jumped back and played defensive. As she fought Ino spoke to her team, "Looks like that's all Sakura can do. This is going to be a short match."
Naruto spoke up, "Oh, don't count Sakura out yet, Ino."
Ino looked over at her fellow blonde, "What're you talking about, Naruto?"
"Sakura has a new trick up her sleeves."
"You're bluffing." Ino called it.
"See for yourself." Naruto instructed, as Ino continued to watch the match.
Zaku was prepared to eject his crushing air blasts from his air holes. But the minute he extended his arms out, Sakura stomped the ground and one of the floor pieces popped up and knocked his arms off target and blew air blasts all around.
Everyone was in shock at what happened, "What was that?" Kiba asked in shock.
"Sakura moved a piece of the floor?" Hinata wondered.
"Well, this is a surprise." Kankuro said, as he and his sibs watched.
Kakashi's visible eye was wide before looking at Naruto, who gave him a thumb's up. The Jonin thought while looking at Sakura, 'Well, how about that?'
Ino watched with an agape jaw, "Huh? But? How? WHAT?!"
Sakura continued to use her Earthbending ability to hurl more rocks and such at Zaku, but the boy was dodging and blasting at her with air.
"So you're a bit faster now," Zaku began, "Well, you can't hide behind your rocks forever!"
Sakura smirked, "I don't need too." she once again stomped on the ground.
Suddenly a rock pillar popped up behind Zaku sending him falling flat on his face. Sakura quickly used her Earthbending to make the arena swallow Zaku's hands to keep him from using his air holes. Zaku tried to lift his arms out, but was incapable of doing so.
"You may as well call the match, Zaku," Sakura suggested, "You'll never break our arms out."
"I'm not quitting!" Zaku called, but deep down knew he was now a sitting duck.
Hayate stepped in, "Because Zaku is incapable of escaping, this match goes to Sakura Haruno." he announced.
Naruto jumped up and cheered, "All right, Sakura! You rock!" he realized the pun he made and felt sheepish, while Kakashi laughed.
Sakura undid her Earthbending move, allowing Zaku to be free. He felt tempted to attack Sakura, but knew any misconduct and he would face consequences from the Konoha shinobi. He went back up to the catwalk where he met his teammates who were scowling at him.
When Sakura made it up top, Ino and many of the other rookies gathered around her, and pestered her, "Sakura, how did you do that?" Chouji gasped.
"Can you use earth jutsu now?" Kiba inquired.
"Tell us how you did it!" Ino demanded.
Sakura was feeling uncomfortable with all the questions, while Naruto watched from the side smirking. He thought to himself, 'Yes, Sakura. Keep them off my back with your ability to Earthbend. When the time comes they'll see what real bending is all about.'
Everyone stopped questioning Sakura, when Shikamaru spoke up, "Hey, Ino. Look." he motioned to the screen.
Ino and the others saw her name on screen and her opponent being Samui. Ino looked over seeing it was the busty Kumo girl she'd be fighting.
"Go get her, Ino." Chouji said.
"What he said." Shikamaru added.
"Ok, guys." Ino answered, as she went down.
When the two met, Hayate spoke, "This match will be between Samui and Ino Yamanaka. You may begin!"
And so the two blondes engaged in combat using hand to hand moves. As Ino fought, she thought to herself, 'I can't lose now that Sakura's secured a place in the finals. I have to fight hard!' she threw all she had against Samui who was intercepting practically every move.
"That's it, Samui!" Karui cheered.
"You can do it!" Omoi called.
Watching along side the two Kumo genin was a man and a woman. The man had dark skin, short blonde hair, and wore sunglasses. On his back he carried multiple swords. The woman had blonde hair in a ponytail styled like a cats tail.
The woman smiled, "Samui will never go down that easily."
The man nodded, "Word up, Yugito. Samui's on the go!" he rapped.
The woman Yugito rolled her eyes, "Save your raps for another time, Bee," she looked across from them and noticed Naruto. She gasped as if she was looking deeper inside him.
Bee noticed this, "Yugito, something on your mind?"
"Bee, you notice that blonde boy over there?" she inquired.
Bee looked over seeing Naruto, "Yeah. Funny looking fella."
Yugito looked at him, "Don't tell me you don't feel it too?"
Bee looked back at her, and nodded, "I do. His chakra's like mine and you."
Yugito continued, "But I feel another presence within him. Something different."
"I feel it too," Bee agreed, "And a lot peaceful than some other fool." he motioned to Gaara who had his eyes fixated on the match.
Samui continued to block Ino's moves and struck back harder than the blonde Konoha kunoichi. She eventually spun kicked Ino making her crash into a wall. The Yamanaka was so tired from throwing all she had against Samui, she had no choice but to call the match.
"The winner of this match is Samui!" Hayate announced.
Omoi and Karui cheered, "All right!"
Bee and Yugito smiled with pride, as Samui walked back up to them. Ino managed to get enough energy to pick herself up, only to be helped up by Asuma who brought her back to her team.
"You ok, Ino?" Chouji asked.
"Sorry, guys. I tried." Ino sighed.
"Ino, you did all you could," Sakura spoke up, "And that's all that matters."
Ino looked away with humiliation, "Easy for you to say, you won your match."
Naruto spoke up, "Sakura is right, Ino," Ino looked over at Naruto, "You lost today, but that loss will make you a better shinobi when next time you engage in combat. Remember losses are just as important as victories."
Ino felt flustered by Naruto's words of wisdom before answered, "Ok, Naruto. And, Sakura, congrats on your match."
Sakura smiled, "Thanks."
They saw the next two names come up being Temari and Tenten. Tenten smiled with eagerness, while Temari looked smug. When the two met on the arena, Hayate spoke, "This next match will be between Tenten and Temari. Begin!"
Tenten started off with her specialty of throwing weapons like kunai and shuriken, but they missed Temari who didn't even budge.
Lee was shocked, "This can't be, Tenten never misses her target."
Naruto squinted, "And Temari, didn't even budge."
Tenten was even more shocked, but continued to launch whatever weapons she had at Temari, who like before didn't budge, and Tenten missed.
"This is boring." Temari said, as she whipped out her huge fan she carried on her back, and unfolded it.
"A fan?" sakura asked.
Naruto spoke, "So that's it. Temari's a wind kunoichi."
"No doubt about it." Kakashi agreed.
Tenten not getting intimidated unleashed her most powerful weapons attack on Temari, but her wind was too strong. The Suna girl utilizing the wind element through her fan enveloped Tenten in a wind cyclone with the wind so sharp it started to cut through Tenten's skin. When Temari's jutsu ended, Tenten fell to the floor with a thud and was left unconscious.
Hayate called the match, "The winner is Temari!"
"Tenten!" Lee called, as he and Guy jumped down to see if she was ok.
After seeing she was still alive, they allowed the medic shinobi to take her away, while Temari returned to her siblings.
Naruto thought to himself, 'Temari's mastery over the wind element looks comparable to Master Kai, Master Jinora, and Master Opal.'
The next two names to be drawn were Shikamaru and Kin. Shikamaru looked dismal to see his name be picked, while Kin looked eager to win.
"Well, guess this is it." Shikamaru said in boredom
"Turn that boredom off, Shikamaru. You need to concentrate!" Ino lectured him.
"Fine. Jeez, worse than my mother." he grumbled before going down.
So the two went to the arena, as Hayate spoke, "This match is between Shikamaru Nara and Kin Tsuchi. You may begin!"
So Kin took off and started launching needles at Shikamaru, coming close to hitting vital spots. Shikamaru plucked the needles from his left arm and right leg, before analyzing the situation and started to form a strategy. He activated his family's shadow possession jutsu and caught Kin in it.
"Shadow possession complete." he said.
Kin scowled, "What good will this do? All you can do is make me mirror your movement."
"I actually got a plan." he pulled out some shuriken which forced Kin to do the same.
"Are you mad? If you do that we'll both get injured!" Kin called.
"We'll see!" Shikamaru launched his shuriken as Kin did the same.
Shikamaru ducked Kin's, but when Kin ducked to avoid his she ended up banging her head against the wall incredibly hard.
Shikamaru groaned, as he could feel the hit on his own head, but still remained conscious. Shikamaru ended his jutsu, as Hayate spoke.
"The Winner is Shikamaru Nara!"
"All right, Shikamaru!" Chouji and Ino cheered, while Asuma smiled.
Shikamaru yawned and left the arena, while Kin was taken away. Suddenly the next two names selected were Naruto and Kiba.
Naruto seeing his name looked excited, while Kiba himself bore a smug expression. Kakashi spoke to his student, "Well, Naruto, this is it."
"I know." Naruto confirmed.
"Go get him, Naruto." Sakura said.
"You know it." Naruto answered, as he headed down to the arena, where Kiba was waiting.
Kiba spoke, "Akamaru, stay back." he told his dog.
Naruto looked in disbelief, "You're telling him to stay back? Kiba did you take 'stupid' pills or something to add to your already dense demeanor? You know of how I performed in the last few weeks of the academy compared to you."
"That was then and this is now. I've gotten stronger since we graduated." Kiba retorted.
"And you think you're strong enough to fight me without the use of Akamaru?" Naruto asked.
"Come and find out." Kiba beckoned him.
Hayate spoke, "This match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka. You may begin!"
Wasting no time, both competitors charged at each other, before Naruto using his Airbending training spun on his foot to avoid a strike from Kiba. Kiba was shocked that he missed, and ended up taking a punch from Naruto. Kiba rolled across the floor but got back up.
"Lucky move, Naruto." he growled.
"Is it luck? Or perhaps you just aren't as much stronger as you claimed you have gotten?" Naruto questioned him.
"Just you wait, Naruto," Kiba frowned as he did his next move, "Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry. All fours Jutsu!" Kiba got down on all fours, and started taking on a more feral appearance with sharper nails and canines.
Naruto got into position, "All right, show me whatcha got."
"Here I come!" Kiba charged at Naruto and threw a punch, only for Naruto to jump back to avoid the blow.
"You're still too slow, Kiba. Now watch as I wow you with my own mad skills." he formed hand signs, "Fire style: Fireball kick!" he did two spin kicks launching a fireball each at Kiba who barely managed to dodge them.
Kiba looked at his partner, "Akamaru, looks like I may need you after all."
Akamaru barked in agreement and joined his partner. Kiba took out two soldier pills and ate one before giving the other to Akamaru. Kiba called out, "Man Beast clone!" Suddenly Akamaru transformed into a clone of Kiba and both looked ready to fight.
Naruto spoke, "I can take on twenty of you, and you will would lose. Shadow Clone jutsu!" he summoned ten clones who all stood ready.
"Fang over Fang!" Kiba called, as he an Akamaru attacked together. The Naruto's jumped away avoiding the attack.
The Naruto's formed hand signs, "Water style; Liquid Bullet!" they spat a blast of water from their mouths at Kiba and Akamaru who were jumping and dodging.
"Kiba and Akamaru are like sitting ducks there." Shino noted.
"I know," Hinata agreed, and thought, 'While I should be rooting for Kiba, I don't wanna see Naruto lose.'
"Come on, Naruto!" Sakura cheered.
Naruto smirked to himself, "Hey, Kiba, get ready for a trip to OZ!" he and his clones formed hand signs, "Wind style; Hurricane Cyclone!" they started utilizing the wind element to create a cyclone that sucked Kiba and Akamaru up.
Everyone held onto the railings of the stands not wanting to get sucked in as well. Naruto and his clones directed the cyclone to spit Kiba and Akamaru out sending them crashing into the ground knocking them out.
Hayate looked at them before declaring, "The Winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"
"All right, Naruto!" Sakura cheered.
"Amazing." Lee gasped.
"Impressive." Ino said in awe.
Hinata smiled, and thought, 'Congratulations, Naruto.'
Naruto dispelled his clones and smiled, "That felt good." he turned and went back to join his squad.
"Way to go, Naruto. That was awesome!" Sakura said in amaze.
"You did well, Naruto." Kakashi commended him.
"Thanks, guys." Naruto replied.
After Kiba and Akamaru were removed, the board shuffled the remaining names and coming up was Dosu Kinuta and Kurotsuchi.
The Iwa kunoichi smirked, "Yes."
Dosu said to himself, "Finally."
Naruto and Sakura squinted at Dosu knowing just what he was capable of doing from their battle in the forest. When Kurotsuchi and Dosu met on the arena, Hayate spoke, "This match is between Kurotsuchi and Dosu Kinuta. You may begin!"
The two took off and engaged in taijutsu, only for Dosu to activate the jutsu in his gauntlet releasing an unpleasing sound like he did to Soreth.
Kurotsuchi groaned, "What the hell's happening?!"
"That's the affect of my jutsu. Your ears can't take what they hear."
Kurotsuchi quickly formed hand signs, "Lava Style: Quicklime Congealing jutsu!" She spat quicklime from her mouth and managed to get it on Dosu's gauntlet.
"What is this?" Dosu demanded, seeing the substance stick to his arm.
"Now to spice it up!" Kurotsuchi used a water jutsu upon the quicklime and it started hardening like cement making the gauntlet into stone disabling Dosu from using it.
"Without my gauntlet I can't use my jutsu!" Dosu cried.
"Which means, the advantage is mine again." Kurotsuchi declared, as she attacked Dosu and used the same techniques to encase Dosu's legs into cement disabling his movement.
Hayate seeing this knew to call the match, "Because Dosu can no longer move, this match goes to Kurotsuchi."
Dosu growled seeing that he was defeated before some shinobi broke the cement holds to free him. Dosu left without a word, while Kurotsuchi went back up top.
Sakura was confused, "She said Lava style? Sensei, do you think she also possesses a kekkei genaki like Haku did?"
"No doubt about it." Kakashi confirmed.
Naruto was interested in the lava style knowing that style also applied to bending as demonstrated by Bolin.
The enxt two names called were Karui and Hinata. Hinata was surprised, while Karui looked confident. The Kumo kunoichi spoke up, "Well, my time to shine."
"Karui, watch yourself." Yugito warned her.
"Yes, Yugito-sensei." she answered before heading down.
Kurenai looked to Hinata who nodded signaling her time was now. Hinata nodded and started walking. Before she reached the stairs, Neji spoke up.
"Hinata," she stopped and looked back at him, "A word of advice. Give up." he flat out said.
Hinata, Naruto, and the others were shocked at what Neji said without a care, "Excuse me?" Hinata asked.
"You heard me. You should give up before you embarrass yourself down there." Neji continued, "The only reason you're here is because you didn't want to let your teammates down. Fate already decided you were a loser long ago."
Naruto looked at him and spoke, "Hey, asshole! Why don't you just shut up?" everyone turned to Naruto, as Neji looked at him with a scowl, "You think Hinata needs to hear you bullshitting at her before her match?! Or are you just trying to make her lose?"
"I'm only stating the facts." Neji answered with no remorse.
Naruto frowned, "Well, keep your words to yourself," he turned to Hinata and smiled, "You can do this, Hinata. Remember our training sessions."
Hinata nodded knowing all her practicing with Naruto was finally going to be put to the test. She walked down and joined Karui. The Kumo girl spoke, "So what's up with Mr. Personality up there?"
Hinata sighed, "It's nothing."
"Whatevs." Karui shrugged.
Hayate spoke, "This match is between Hinata Hyuga and Karui. You may begin!"
Karui drew her sword on her back and fought Hinata, who started dodging. She concentrated, "Byakugan!" she activated her family's eyes.
Karui thought, 'So the eyes of the Hyuga. The Byakugan. I can't let her get close to me or she'll use the gentle fist art on my chakra network.'
As Hinata went forward she avoided Karui's sword strikes using her family's fighting style. Naruto watched in amaze along with many of the others, while Neji looked impassive.
From the Kumo shinobi, Omoi cheered, "Come on, Karui!" he called.
Bee, Yugito, and Samui watched as their friend fought Hinata who wasn't holding back and dodging her sword strikes.
Hinata thought, 'I have to time it right... And now!' she kicked the sword out of Karui's hand putting a shock on the Kumo kunoichi's face. Hinata taking advantage of her enemy being disarmed started striking at her chakra points. When Hinata struck the last point, Karui dropped to her knees.
"I can't believe you blocked my chakra." Karui groaned.
"I'm sorry for that. But you were a worthy opponent." Hinata admitted.
"Is that pity?" Karui demanded feeling her pride was hurt.
"No. I was being honest." Hinata replied, as Karui felt guilty for accusing Hinata of giving her pitty.
Hayate announced, "Hinata Hyuga is the winner!"
"All right, Hinata!" Naruto cheered, as Shino and Kurenai applauded on her performance.
Hinata smiled seeing not only she won but was being congratulated by her team and Naruto. She went up and Naruto was the first to greet her.
"Congratulations, Hinata. You did amazing."
"Arigato, Naruto." Hinata smiled.
Neji scoffed, which didn't go unnoticed by the two. Naruto frowned, "Something you want to say, Neji?"
Neji looked back at them and spoke to Hinata, "Don't think because you've won this match you're special or something. Fate just took pity and spared you by a whim."
Naruto looked at him in disbelief, "That's all you have to say to her? Man you are straight up on top of the asshole meter."
Neji frowned, "Watch your mouth."
"I think you should watch it!" Naruto replied, feeling tempted to go at it, only to be held back by Kakashi.
"Easy, Naruto."
Guy himself had hold Neji back to prevent him from trying anything either. Neji just relaxed and let it go. They looked at the monitor and the next two names were Neji and Kamura of the Iwa team. Neji started walking and turned to Naruto and Hinata, before speaking to his cousin, "Watch and see how a real master of the Gentle Fist art fights." he continued on.
Hinata felt her confidence drop, but suddenly felt her hand clamped with another. She saw Naruto holding her hand to give her strength, and smiled at her. Hinata felt flustered, but smiled with renewed confidence.
On the arena, Hayate spoke, "The next match is between Neji Hyuga and Kamura. Let the match begin!"
And so the two shinobi took off with Neji wasting no time in activating his Byakugan and started to fight Kamura. Kamura himself used his earth jutsu to create a wall of stone to protect himself, but the gentle fist art was strong enough to break through it. In no time, Neji had blocked off Kamura's chakra just like Hinata did to Karui.
Hayate spoke, "Neji Hyuga is the winner!"
Everyone was astounded by Neji's performance seeing he wasn't the least bit intimidated by his opponent. Neji returned to the top and looked at Hinata, "Try and top that if you ever can."
"Ah, shut up!" Naruto replied on behalf of Hinata.
Neji frowned at Naruto and just stood by Lee and Guy. The next two names to appear on screen was Lee and Gaara.
Lee smiled, "Yes. After waiting so long my time is finally here!" he beamed.
"Lee, show him what you got." Guy declared.
"Hai, sensei!" Lee said, as he jumped from the balcony and landed perfectly on the floor.
Gaara himself used shunshin with sand to appear on the arena. Temari and Kankuro watched with smirks, as the Konoka shinobi were curious about Gaara knowing only minimal thanks to Kabuto.
"This match is between Gaara and Rock Lee. You may commence!"
Lee wasted no time and went at Gaara delivering a number of Leaf Hurricane kicks at Gaara. But with every blow Lee attempted, sand would emerge from the gourd on Gaara's back and shielded the redhead.
"Sand?" Neji was curious.
"So that's what he's carrying on him." Shikamaru said.
"He can manipulate sand to protect him?" Sakura inquired.
Naruto spoke up, "I have a feeling it's not so much he's manipulating the sand."
"What do you mean, Naruto?" Sakura wondered.
"I think the sand is protecting Gaara as if it's drawn to him."
"What? Are you saying the sand itself is sentient or something?" his teammate asked in disbelief.
"Something." Naruto answered, knowing he shouldn't blurt out his knowledge of Shukaku in the open.
Lee kept trying to strike at Gaara, but no matter how many moves he made the sand just kept blocking him. Guy seeing this spoke up, "Lee, take them off."
"Hai, sensei!" Lee acknowledged and removed his leg pads and dropped them resulting in two small craters being left in the floor.
Naruto whistled, 'Training with that many weights? Now I wonder how fast he'll really be.'
And Naruto soon saw for himself, as Lee took off at the speed of lightning and was starting to land some faster blows against Gaara, as the sand wasn't able to block Lee fast enough. Gaara himself was also shocked to see Lee moving so fast.
But Guy felt it still wasn't enough, "Lee open the gates."
Kakashi turned to him, "Guy, you can't be serious."
"I am serious, Kakashi." Guy confirmed.
Naruto realizing they were talking about the chakra gates had to see this for himself. So Lee opened the first gate and started going at Gaara even harder, and with each other gate he opened he started unleashing his power upon Gaara more. Gaara who had been taken so many hits was looking like a mess as his body was covered in bruises.
When Lee used the Leaf Shadow Dance along with the Reverse Lotus Gaara was sent crashing to the ground. Lee who was looking torn up from opening five chakra gates looked at his opponent who looked like he had it. Suddenly Gaara's body cracked and dissolved into sand taking them by surprise.
Naruto watched as Gaara appeared unscathed as if he was never even touched by Lee's assault of blows. The Suna shinobi taking advantage of Lee's weakened state manipulated the sand and started crushing Lee's legs, as the boy screamed in pain. Before Gaara could finish him, Guy intervened to save Lee. Due to this Gaara was awarded victory.
Naruto watched sadly as Lee was taken away by the medics, and saw Guy look saddened as the medic told him something. Naruto looked across from his standing point and glared at Gaara. While on Gaara's side, Yugito and Bee looked at each other nodding as they themselves knew what was going on.
The final two competitors were Omoi and Choujuro, who met on the arena. Hayate spoke, "The final match will be between Omoi and Choujuro. Begin!"
Omoi and Choujuro each drew their swords and went at it in a swordplay fight. As Omoi fought, he spoke, "That's one big blade you got there."
"It's the Hiramekarei," Choujuro began, "A weapon once used by members of Kiri's Legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
Omoi looked stunned, "That's one of the blades of Kiri's Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"That's right." Choujuro confirmed.
"If I'm going up against a weapon like that, I'll need to step it up." Omoi said, as he channeled lightning chakra into his sword, and started striking Choujuro harder.
The swordsman boy of Kiri blocked Omoi's strikes, and spoke, "You're very good with the blade. But I do not want to disappoint the Mizukage. So I'm gonna make her proud!" he called as his swords shredded out of it's wrappings and was encased in chakra making it look bigger.
Seeing this frightened Omoi as Choujuro jumped above and swung his sword at his opponent. Omoi was struck and was knocked out of the arena while looking down for the count.
Hayate seeing this announced, "The winner is Choujuro!"
Been came down and brought Omoi up to them, where he apologized, but Bee merely patted his back signaling it was ok.
Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Hinata, Shino, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Choujuro, Shikamaru, Kurotsuchi, Rinzu, Samui stood before the Hokage, Anko, Ibiki, and Hayate, as the Hokage announced.
"Congratulations to you all for making it through the preliminaries. Now you are to each select a random number from the box Anko has, and we shall determine the match ups in the third and final stage.
So the group drew a random number and Sasuke who was not present would receive the remaining number.
Once they've been tallied up, Ibki spoke, "Here are the matches for the final stage of the Chunin Exams." he displayed a tournament chart featuring their names and who they'd be fighting.
Match 1: Naruto vs Neji
Match 2: Hinata vs Sakura
Match 3: Sasuke vs Gaara
Match 4: Kankuro vs Shino
Match 5: Shikamaru vs Temari
Match 6: Choujuro vs Samui
Match 7: Rinzu vs Kurotsuchi
Everyone studied the chart and were intrigued at who they would be fighting against. Kurotsuchi suddenly raised her hand, "Hold on. If this is styled like a tournament does that mean only one of us can make chunin?"
"This tournament isn't about winning or losing," Hiruzen began, "It's all about making an impression and showing your worth. You will have a month to prepare."
"A month? You mean we're not going to do it right now?" Chojuro inquired.
The Hokage continued, "You've all exhausted yourselves enough already from your previous matches. This month will give you the opportunity to prepare against your opponents and learn some new tricks. Plus for this event we shall be inviting several Daimyo's and the Kage from the other great Nations to join us. So rest up and train hard. We'll see you all in a month." And with that everyone started leaving.
Naruto and Sakura were left, Kakashi spoke to them, "Come on, you two. Sasuke needs to know about this, and I myself will need to figure out what to do with you three for the month."
"Hai, sensei." they answered, before following their sensei to inform Sasuke of the news.
(And that's the chapter. Very long, I know. Don't miss next time where Naruto and Sakura get instructors to prepare them for the Chunin Exam Finals. And with other characters appearing as well. Catch you then.)